DSPs Growing in Leadership

Guest author of this blog posting is Bridget Siljander, Board president of the NADSP Minnesota chapter DSPAM. Siljander recently had the opportunity to attend the DSW Symposium in Baltimore.

I am a DSP of over 10 years who has recently found a way into leadership and I couldn't be more excited! Not only do I now have an opportunity to address issues of concern in the DSP workforce based primarily on being a witness to them, but I have observed that I am a part of a rapidly-growing national movement to empower DSPs that includes many other strong DSP voices.

It all began when a friend of one of my consumers recruited me to join the Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota (DSPAM). I now serve as President and Chair of the DSPAM, which has been an incredible experience. Through this role, I will do my best to help develop my state chapter of the NADSP in order to make changes that will benefit DSPs.

I care so much about DSP issues because I have lived them and I know that most other DSPs are in my same position. Since 1997, with a high school diploma, an A.A. degree, and after leaving a Registered Nursing program to gain work experience I felt I lacked, I have worked as a Home Health Aide, Personal Care Attendant, Access Assistant, HHA/PCA Staffer and Supervisor, and Certified Nursing Assistant (in 2 nursing homes). What began as a "job" has become a "career". I thought I would eventually move out of the workforce when I finished my Bachelor's degree. In December 2005, I received my B.A. in Psychology, with honors. The plan to exit the workforce had been discarded because I no longer viewed my work the way I had in the beginning.

My work is my livelihood and I believe deeply in the importance of what I do. Some of my consumers have become my best friends and they know I will always be available, should they need me. I still make my living as a DSP, and with my education completed, my focus has turned toward wanting to make a difference in a broader sense, beyond what I do for my consumers.

By getting involved, I have had many fantastic opportunities. The DSPAM hosted a booth for 2 days and gave a presentation at a major local professional conference. I worked with Lindsay Short (DSP and DSPAM Vice-President) and Kelly Voigt (DSP and MSW intern) to present on the DSPAM as an organization and our recently-concluded statewide survey of DSPs. The morning after, I traveled to Baltimore to attend the Direct Service Workforce Symposium, where I presented on a panel on Worker Empowerment. I am thrilled to be able to improve the skills that are necessary to be an effective DSP leader.

At the DSW Symposium, I discovered that there are a number of DSPs in leadership, and that we are being invited to the table as a valued stakeholder, along with a great variety of other stakeholders, to address the workforce issues that affect our whole communities. I was impressed by the increase in respect for DSPs as a whole group this signified. Now is a perfect time for more DSPs to step up and use their voices and become a part of the growing DSP leadership. Our movement needs momentum, and we must make a call to action to all DSPs to be a part of it. At the DSW Symposium, I also learned that there is a tremendous amount of energy gathering around the workforce issues- from DSPs to researchers to policy-makers to providers to bureaucrats. We need to take full advantage of the opportunities available to us today by getting better organized, by forming partnerships, and by working together to find solutions for the workforce issues. The time for DSPs is now!